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Going for merit money

U.S. News & World Report

12:32 p.m. EST, January 18, 2012

Filling out the FAFSA is a good first step in any student's quest for institutional financial aid. The government form calculates your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and helps to determine whether you'll qualify for many types of need-based funding, including aid from your college or university.

But students and families who aren't deemed financially needy may still seek help covering college costs, and options may remain to snag money from your school.

Merit-based aid – scholarships or grants that may be given for demonstrating, for instance, a stellar academic record or a special talent – can also help fund your education.

On average, about 14 percent of students receive non-need-based merit aid. At Louisiana College, the school that awarded merit aid to the highest amount of its non-needy population, 88 percent of non-needy students received some amount of the funding in 2009-10.

The list below makes up the 10 schools that awarded any amount of merit aid to the highest percent of their students without financial need for the 2009-10 school year, based on data reported by the schools to U.S. News: